Today, university scientists spanning the UK unveiled a special project: A virtual reality headset said to mimic all five senses to offer a user experience that's indistinguishable from the real world.

Now obviously the claim is at least a slight exaggeration, as the peripheral only covers your head. Regardless...

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The Cocoon is pitched as a portable VR device that can work for both entertainment and learning, taking viewers from their couch to the African savanna or Pyramids of Egypt. It's obvious that the helmet contains a unique, semi-circular screen that will fill the entirety of your vision. But researchers on the project are still working out other engineering problems, like how specific smells can be reproduced (which is, in itself, a worldwide scientific conundrum that's spawned many not-so-portable prototypes) .

If all goes according to plan, the Virtual Cocoon will be on the market in three years for about $2,000. But something tells us that even if the device makes it to stores, and even if it works perfectly, the human neck will lack the structural integrity to appreciate the experience. [Mail Online]